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St.
Austell’s Coat
of
Arms
ST.
AUSTELL
is
a pleasant market town situated on the southern slope of a hill
overlooking the lower part of the Pentewan Valley.
In
the reign of King Henry VIII, it was described by his antiquary, John
Leland (1506-1552), as being a “poore toun
with nothing notable but the paroch chirch.”
However, the success of tin-mining at nearby Polgooth
not long afterwards led initially to St. Austell’s rise in prosperity.
The Cornish historian, Tonkin, writing in the early 1700s, considered Polgooth
to be “the richest work in the kingdom”, producing £20,000 worth of
tin per year. By 1837, Polgooth was
the third largest producer of tin in Cornwall. St. Austell, with
its blowing-houses (smelting-houses), had become an important place and
for a short while between 1833 and 1838 it operated as a coinage town
confirming that the tin had been properly assayed and ensuring that the
duty chargeable by the Duchy of Cornwall was paid.
Tin
mining started to decline after the middle of the 19th
century, but, fortunately for St. Austell, the discovery of deposits of
china clay in its hinterland towards the end of the 1700s meant further
prosperity for the town and the surrounding area. This extractive
industry gradually replaced tin-mining and led to St. Austell’s
further importance, the town becoming a centre known throughout the
world for producing this valuable commodity used in so many
manufacturing processes.
Today,
the extraction of china clay from the decomposed granite in huge
excavations is still the main industry of the St. Austell area. Current
practice is to restore the landscape when economical, whilst some
worked-out pits serve as reservoirs for the vast quantities of water
used in washing the clay from the faces of the pits. These
worked-out pits have a scenic quality all of their own and provide much
valued habitat for flora and fauna.
 The heart of St. Austell has to be its fine Perpendicular-style parish
church, built of the much-used, mellow, elvan
stone quarried at Pentewan. The church was consecrated by Bishop Bronescombe,
Bishop of Exeter, on 9th October, 1259, but records confirm
that a church existed on the site in 1169. The oldest part of the
present building is St. Michael’s Chapel at its south-east corner.
The Nave and the 94ft high Somerset-type tower were built in the 15th
century. The outside of the church is richly adorned with figures
carved in Pentewan stone, perpetuating the theme of the Holy Trinity on
the tower. Shields along the south wall portray the story of the
Passion and describe the Ascension.
Above the arched doorway leading
into the south aisle is a carving of a pelican – a symbol of piety –
with outstretched wings, feeding her brood with blood from her breast.
Of
the monuments within the church, those to the Sawle
family of Penrice, who were great
benefactors to St. Austell, are the most numerous. The latest one
relates to Richard Charles Graves-Sawle, a
Lieutenant in the Coldstream Regiment of
Foot Guards, who was killed at the battle of Ypres
on 2nd November, 1914. His death ended the male line of
his branch of the Sawle family.
At
Menacuddle Holy Well, approximately
three-quarters of a mile to the north-west of the Parish Church, his
death is also recorded on a tablet affixed to the Well Chapel, or Baptistry,
by his father, Rear Admiral Sir Charles John
Graves-Sawle, in 1921, when he gave the
building and its surroundings to the
church-wardens for the enjoyment of the local inhabitants.
Some of St. Austell’s most impressive buildings are in the vicinity of
the parish church. The Queen’s Head is one of the oldest
buildings in the town, dating from the 17th century when it
was an ale house. The White Hart Hotel, which faces the south side
of the church, is an elegant Georgian house, built as a private
residence for Charles Rashleigh who founded
the port of Charlestown between 1791 and 1801 to export tin, copper ore
and china clay. Rare wallpaper depicting “the Bay of
Naples”, with which Rashleigh had
decorated the walls of his dining room at the end of the 18th
century, was removed some years later to the Victoria & Albert
Museum, London.
St.
Austell’s “new” Market House, designed by Cope & Eales
of London, and built by Olver & Son of
Falmouth, opened in 1844. It replaced an earlier market house,
believed to have been situated nearer to the west door of the church.
This Grade II* listed building has two floors, and, at one time, 
it
incorporated the Town Hall and a fire station. Granite piers
support a vaulted ceiling over the main entrance hall and stone stairs
lead from a secondary front entrance to what was once the Town Hall,
later to become a picture house. From the ground floor market
hall, occupied by butchers’ stalls in the early days, two stone
stairways lead to a gallery landing on the first-floor, beyond which is
a further stone-paved area at present accommodating shop units.
The most impressive feature of the market house has to be its timbered
roof construction. Trusses of yellow pine and beams, in an
intricate web, span the full width of the building.
Public
meetings and exhibitions were held in the market house and both
William Gladstone and Winston Churchill have addressed St.
Austell residents from the landing.
 The
Red Bank (St. Austell Bank), built for Coode,
Shilson & Co., at the end of Church
Street and facing the Bull Ring, ranks as one of St. Austell’s most
impressive buildings – not only in its design, but also in its
striking colour. Erected in 1898, it was designed by a
Luxulyan-born architect, Silvanus Trevail
so that a gable end faced each of the roads which approached it.
The red bricks used in the building were made at Ruabon
in North Wales.
Silvanus
Trevail was a prolific architect, designing
many schools, chapels and public buildings. His style featured
steeply-pitched roofs and large windows. Another of his impressive
buildings within the town is the former Liberal Club at the west end of
Fore Street. This building, opened in 1890, was designed for
Francis Leyland Barrett, J.P., who was made
a Baronet in 1908 and who was M.P. for
St. Austell from 1915 until 1918.
Tregonissey House, as it is known today,
which is a few yards to the
north of the church, was originally the “steam brewery” built by
Walter Hicks in 1869 on the site of the old London Inn.
This business was so successful that within 24 years larger premises
were necessary. In 1893, Walter Hicks acquired a site in Tregonissey
Lane (now Trevarthian Road) and work on the
building of the present-day brewery commenced. St. Austell Brewery
has a chain of public houses and hotels throughout Cornwall and the
Isles of Scilly.
Approximately
one and a half miles to the east of St. Austell, the menhir
(standing stone) known as the Gwallon Longstone
stands in the grounds of Penrice Community College.
Recorded in 1740 as being 13 feet in height, it is one of the
best-preserved longstones in the county.
St. Austell Church Tower and
the expanse of Blackpool Clay Works silhouetted
against the setting sun
A
FIRST FOR ST. AUSTELL – A TOWN MUSEUM
St.
Austell Old Cornwall Society opened its new museum to the public on 16th
June, 2011 in part of the town’s historic Market House.
Situated in an ideal position between the main entrance to the
Market House and the Hop & Vine public house opposite the Parish
Church, the museum occupies the two original police lock-up cells and part
of the stairwell to the first floor of the building.
One of the cells has been maintained as a jail, complete with
replicas of a prisoner and a police constable in period costume, whilst
the other has been adapted to represent a kitchen of an earlier era.
A collection of old advertising posters adorning the walls on the
ground floor of the museum and the walls of display cabinets on the first
floor of the Market House form a considerable part of the items on show
and these give a valuable insight into the social activities of St.
Austell and district. Numerous
articles and photographs have been generously donated or loaned to the
Society and put on show on the ground floor which has easy access at
street level.
The museum is open until the end of October from 10.00
a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Monday
to Friday and from 10.00
a.m. to 2.00 p.m. on Saturday. Entry
is free.
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Affiliated
to the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, some 46 local societies
exist throughout the county of Cornwall. The Old Cornwall movement began
in the early 20th century when it was realised that, as time
went on, there was a danger that much of the distinctive heritage and
culture of Cornwall could be lost forever. The motto, “Gather ye
the fragments that are left, that nothing be lost” could not be more
appropriate, and members are urged to record, for posterity,
information, however small, relating to archaeology, dialect, place
names, folk songs and music in particular, and the Cornish way of life
in general. Each Society has a Recorder who notes, amongst other things,
changes taking place in its neighbourhood and, wherever possible, takes
photographs before scenes are altered.
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